Time travel and musicking (Online Discussion #3)

Online Discussion #3 is available for comments February 20-26. The rubric I’ll be using to grade your participation and a description of these assignments is available here.

Listen:

Billy Pilgrim has come unstuck in time.

Billy has gone to sleep a senile widower and awakened on his wedding day. He has walked through a door in 1955 and come out another one in 1941. He has gone back through that door to find himself in 1963. He has seen his birth and death many times, he says, and pays random visits to all the events in between.

He says.

Billy is spastic in time, has no control over where he is going next, and the trips aren’t necessarily fun. He is in a constant state of stage fright, he says, because he never knows what part of his life he is going to have to act in next.

—Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughter-House Five (1972)

When are we now?

If I asked you when you are as you listen to this piece of music, you’d likely say (after looking at me quizzically) that, of course, you’re listening to it right now (approximately sometime in the third week of February 2017).

There’s the experience right now of listening to the music, but is that the only place you are? In class, we talked about how listening to a piece of music can remind you of past experiences: places you’ve been, people you’ve been with when you heard that piece previously, or other pieces of music you’ve heard. Part of your brain is somewhere else—perhaps it’s more accurate to say that your brain is somewhen else. As you exist in the present, you’re also mentally in another time.

These additional sensations, memories, and times that a piece of music conjures up for you define your personal listening experience—the piece of music is a nucleus around which all these other ideas come into orbit. How varied, rich, deep, or extensive that orbit is for you is a big factor in how meaningful a piece of music seems to be.

Multiple simultaneous orbits

A piece of music needs three kinds of people in order to exist: a creator, an executor, and an auditor—in more common terms, a composer, a performer, and a listener (or in even more pop-friendly terms, a songwriter, a singer, and an audience). Notice that I said three kinds of people, not three different people: they could all be the same person! You as an individual could come up with a musical idea right now (create), sing or hum or tap it (execute), with no one around to hear it but you (audit).

It’s also possible for the three people in this triangle to exist in different points in time: a piece of music might be created by a composer in 1725, played by a performer in 1985, and listened to by you in 2017—time travel! And each person involved, because they’re existing at different points in time, brings different ideas, different purposes, different intentions, and different concerns to the piece—they’re experiencing a completely different orbit or constellation set in motion by the piece of music.

The composer—Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)— might have been thinking about his contractual obligations and pleasing his employer (call back to Online Discussion #1!), or an aspect of his compositional technique, or his devotion to God.

Jean-Pierre Rampal

The flutist in this recording, Jean-Pierre Rampal (1922-2000), had a different set of purposes: creating superlatively beautiful sound at all times, playing in a style that people wanted to hear in 1985, and continuing his ongoing project of recording every single piece of music written for the flute in an effort to raise the profile of the instrument (which had been largely ignored since the 19th century in favor of the piano and violin).

And neither of their concerns would be same as those, say, of a parent at their child’s recital playing this piece for the first time: “I can’t believe I’m paying all this money for lessons and Junior can barely hold his flute up,” or “Wow, I’ve got a great shot here for the video,” or “God, classical music is boring but they say it’s good for my kid’s brain or something.”

As your knowledge of music and music history broadens over the course of this semester, you’ll be bringing a greater range of understanding, depth, and nuance to your listening experience—the orbit set in motion by a piece of music. Your listening experience will entail the sounds you hear, your personal or emotional reactions, as well as some time travel: to the time when the piece was written and to the time when the piece was performed. The more you know about the thoughts, life, concerns, or intentions of the composer (and the performer!) and his/her time period, the more layers in your understanding of the piece.

Historical performance practice

Not only do compositional styles change (e.g., Baroque to Classical), but so do performance styles. The way in which people produce musical sounds, behave on stage, or program concerts has changed significantly over time as tastes change, new ideas come to light, and the technology of music (instrument production, amplification, distribution media) evolve.

In the classical music world, it was common practice in the 20th century for a performer to use the same style for a Baroque piece (written ca. 1600-1750), a Romantic piece (from the 19th century), and a modern piece. But in the 1970s, classical musicians began to think more consciously about one particular aspect of this time travel: would it be possible to perform musical sounds in a manner closer to a composer’s intentions—to go back in time and come away with a more “authentic” performance style closer to that of the period when the music was written? Were there aspects of a musical experience that could be brought to life that an ahistorical style would gloss over?

The historical performance practice movement rests on research done by hundreds of musicians (musicologists and performer-scholars) and brought to life in performances: re-reading historical documents such as instructional treatises (such as those by Johann Joachim Quantz and Leopold Mozart), music criticism, and first-hand audience accounts; iconography (the study of images, which we’ve done in class!); and taking contemporary philosophy into account. The historical performance practice movement also tends to use period instruments or modern re-creations of period instruments. So, for a piece written in 1725, a flutist would play on a wooden, keyless instrument used that time, rather than the metal, multi-keyed flute developed in the mid-19th century.

A modern flute (top) and a modern replica of a keyless wooden Baroque flute (bottom)

Barthold Kuijken

Here’s a recording of flutist Barthold Kuijken (b. 1949) performing the same Bach flute sonata and doing so on a period-appropriate instrument:

There are period keyboards, bows, horns, and vocal techniques, too, and playing on older instruments allows the musicians to time travel and immerse themselves in the technique of the past, and the sounds they make create a more vivid historical experience for the listener.

At first, “serious” classical musicians scoffed at the early music movement, saying that only musicians who weren’t good enough to be successful were trying to play in a historically-informed manner. And then many started noticing how much more of the music came to life when played in a historically informed style. Now there are a significant number of professional ensembles (Anonymous 4, The Hilliard Ensemble, New York Polyphony, Praetorius, The Tallis Scholars), concert series and festivals (GEMS, Amherst Early Music Festival), and degree programs in conservatories or music schools (Juilliard, Yale) devoted to historically informed music making.

Musicking

To bring this full circle, let’s return to the idea of where you go when you listen to a piece of music and why the listening experience is so important to the concept of music.

Christopher Small (1927-2011) was a musicologist (a person who studies music and its role in society) whose work grew out of his discomfort with the way we typically talk about music: we talk in a way that suggests that music is an object, a thing that is already done (i.e., made by a musician), and we listeners just sit back and have no role in making it.

But wait!

Didn’t we just think about the idea that each of has a rich, varied listening experience, one set in motion by a musical experience but whose trajectory and scope is defined by us, the listener, and what we bring to the table?

To this end, Small coined a new term: “musicking.” Musicking is a progressive-tense verb (like running, evolving, becoming, doing) that implies a kind of ongoing action. In his mind, music isn’t a thing at all:

Musicking: To music is to take part, in any capacity, in a musical performance, whether by performing, by listening, by rehearsing or practicing, by providing material for performance (what is called composing), or by dancing. We might at times even extend its meaning to what the person is doing who takes the tickets at the door or the hefty men who shift the piano and the drums or the roadies who set up the instruments and carry out the sound checks or the cleaners who clean up after everyone else has gone. They, too, are all contributing to the nature of the event that is a musical performance… [To] pay attention in any way to a musical performance, including a recorded performance, even to Muzak in an elevator, is to music… [The] verb to music… covers all participation in a musical performance, whether it takes place actively or passively, whether we like the way it happens or whether we do not, whether we consider it interesting or boring, constructive or destructive, sympathetic or antipathetic… Value judgments come later, if they come at all. (Christopher Small, Musicking: The Meanings of Performing and Listening, 1998; p. 9)

Part of the reason Small coined this term (coming up with a new word is called a neologism), is that thinking of music as a “thing” or an “object” doesn’t let us appreciate music as it’s being made, only as a thing which has been made. However, music is just a means to create an opportunity to do something and to do something with other people. In other words, musicking creates relationships between people:

The act of musicking establishes in the place where it is happening a set of relationships, and it is in those relationships that the meaning of the act lies. They are to be found not only between those organized sounds which are conventionally thought of as being the stuff of musical meaning but also between the people who are taking part, in whatever capacity, in the performance. (Ibid, p. 13)

Our job as listeners is to forge those relationships: to engage, whether physically, socially, or intellectually, with the sounds we hear, the people making them, and the people around us who are also listening/participating. So, Small says that music is an action, one in which we should all take part:

The fundamental nature and meaning of music lie not in objects, not in musical works at all, but in action, in what people do. It is only by understanding what people do as they take part in a musical act that we can hope to understand its nature and the function it fulfills in human life. Whatever that function may be, I am certain, first, that to take part in a music act is of central importance to our very humanness, as important as taking part in the act of speech… If that is so, then our present-day concert life, whether “classical” or “popular,” in which the “talented” few are empowered to produce music for the “untalented” majority, is based on a falsehood. It means that our powers of making music for ourselves have been hijacked and the majority of people robbed of the musicality that is theirs by right of birth, while a few stars, and their handlers, grow rich and famous through selling us what we have been led to believe we lack. (Ibid, pp. 8-9)

In light of Small’s argument, we, the listeners, have an important role to play when it comes to “making music.” He says that “musicking… is an activity in which all those present are involved and for whose nature and quality, success or failure, everyone present bears some responsibility” (Ibid, p. 10)

Time travel: the future!

There’s also a composer-performer-listener triangle that’s oriented towards the future: what will happen next in the world of music, and how do we shape that future? Here’s a 2010 New York Times article from the newspaper’s music critic Allan Kozinn dealing with this very issue: 2010.12.28 Kozinn – Searching New Music For Keepers

Final thoughts

I think of the listening experience simultaneously as something that is social—listening to sounds made or conceived by another person, often with other people, and contemplating other people’s perspectives or ideas—but also solitary—no one can ever have the same listening experience as you, because they won’t have your exact knowledge, share youre past experiences, be in your body, or pay attention to the same things. Bridging the gap between the solitary and the social rests on our ability to articulate what it is that we think, experience, and why: sharing in words the richness of our listening experience with others.

-Dr. J.

Questions to get the conversation started:

Don’t feel like you need to answer all of these questions, and there’s no need to restate the question in your comment. Think of your responses to these questions as interesting things you would say out loud—be clear, be concise, and leave room for others to respond. The most effective comments are brief, contain specific examples, and would feel reasonable to say in a stimulating conversation to another person directly.

What makes a listening experience “rich” for you?

What instances of musical “time travel” have you experienced?

How do you think of your role or responsibility as a listener, or how has your sense of this role changed?

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111 thoughts on “Time travel and musicking (Online Discussion #3)”

I strongly believe that Music is inspirational and should be. Some musics when I listen to them, tell me that this music lacks inspiration, spirit of music and was made for monetary gain only. I strongly concur to the assertion that music should be for all. Everyone has the ability to make and influence music.

In my opinion, I don’t think so. How can an artists music be “good” of it doesn’t have any personal ties to it, meaning, or inspiration? I feel like music is a form of art and art is meant to evoke some sort of feeling, positive or negative. And if it doesn’t do any of those then the one might ask what was the point of its creation.

I believe that music can influence peoples lives in different ways, but I don’t believe it should or does influence everyone. In what ways do you believe music is influential? For example, rock, hip hop, reggae, lyrics seem to be provocative, and to some demonic but does or will it influence their behavior?
Benny mardones for example wrote a song called into the night, its about a grown man who fell in love with a sixteen year old girl. “She’s just sixteen years old, leave her alone, they said” that’s is a line from the song. Now listening to that song will it influence people to seek out minors and court them or is it just a catching song that has no meaning to the listener?

Why dont you think music influences just about everyone? And those genres that you pointed out, it does influence people and you can see it visually every day. You see people try to be like what these artists say in their songs, like you have people dressing up trying to replicate them and a huge example of this is Kanye West.

Every song will not influence you clearly, especially if you cant relate to it however music does influence everyone in some way. For example look at how much New York rap has influenced NYC. From the style to the slang we use to the way we act. People use words like “lit” and “glttt”, do dances like the “dab” and wear clothing such as Timberlands and Jordan’s. What do you think influenced people to act like this? Music. Now rap wont influence everyone but there is a certain genre of music that will influence people specifically.

I strongly agree, many artists don’t put the hard work and good will into creating a piece of music. Numerous artists generate many types of songs just for money. I enjoy quality music and songs that effort was put to create.

I totally agree. Music is freedom of expressions, feelings and emotions. Not everyone who listen to the same song interpret it the same way. But there is no wrong way to do so. It really does depends how you felt that time you heard the song, your point of views, values etc. All plays a part.

What makes listening to music “rich” is when you really hear the lyrics or sound. It’s easy to listen to music as a background noise but if you take the time to just really concentrate to the music piece it can change you. There was a song I use to listen to just because I liked the instrumentals. It was upbeat and it made me happy. One day I decided to listen to the lyrics a bit closer and It was a whole new experience. I connected to the song more after understanding the meaning and relating to the message. When you can relate to a song or an emotion can be triggered that’s when it’s a rich listening experience.

I certainly agree with your first sentence, “…when you really hear the lyrics or sounds.” I also agree with listening to the background noise too (this happens to me all the time!) What song were you listening to, at the time that made you fall in love with the lyrics/instrumentals etc?

i definitely agree that when one listens to a piece of music their mind wonders to some other time and place even if it is unconsciously there can be memories kept in the subconscious that we aren’t aware of and that itself is extraordinary when i listen to a song i revel in it i let it fill me up take me to another time a different role and let the description and clues the lyrics give guide my imagination.it probably happens to some people that when their sad they listen to sad music or sometimes the song itself reminds you of a sad moment and makes your mood change for example sometime ago i was just wondering different songs and came to the song Miley Cyrus dedicated to her grandfather i believe it was called “i miss you” and the lyrics just took me back into my grandfathers arms or at times i can be upset and the song itself has something that makes me smile music works in many ways it’s really a wonderful mystery it gives you flash backs just plain moments and even helps you in the future which brings me to time traveling the world and society we live in has done wonders to music made new ways to compose and perform it i mean there are some people possibly that miss music and the way it was in the old days but that’s the thing that’s how its time traveled today you can time travel back to the classical era by just listening to a classical song or try to build a future trying and experimenting how to develop music even now its all about keeping an open mind you just with music its like you never loose faith or hope because when your sad or alone or missing someone you can listen to music a song that you like to let out all that sadness and get rid of it or to listen for comfort and express yourself through there if none listens to you or listen to a song you once shared with the person you miss or a song they dedicated to you or that remind you of them. i myself have developed my love and understanding for music throught time at first i was young i just liked how it sounded all the pretty sounds and music but then it became something else i listened i mean really listened an realized it is so much more sometimes for some people its easier to really listen when their going through a rough time and then they actually listen and hear the story they might relate to i now have a few songs ive written myself and ive actually tried to write just because i felt like it but nothing comes to mind yet when i feel it when theres something going on and i have all of that stuck inside me i without even noticing words start flowing and its so much simpler because i had inspiration now i can write without inspiration but there has to be a difference between the two music is just… its music lol theres no way of knowing what itll do or how it will help next you just gotta listen and wait.

I like how passionate you seem about music you seem to have a lot to add to the discussion. I get what you are saying about how music can take you to a different place, whenever i listen to “The Dark Side of the Moon” by Pink Floyd i can close my eyes and imagine being back at summer camp 3 years ago when life was a little simpler.

@genesisrosana @brucenbrooklyn i agree with both of you about really listening to the songs and the lyrics ive had a lot of experience with that some songs are not easy to identify and in the music today with all those beats and sound effects its either that or maybe im just def but i cant clearly hear the lyrics maybe their singing too fast or something but anyway getting to my point thats why when i listen to a song i look it up on youtube but i look for the song with lyrics so that way i can listen read it and even sing along and with the lyrics in front of me its easier to interpret the song and when i listen to it again i can even hear the actual words that i couldnt before or even if i still cant i already know what their saying i know the story and i can understand the video the message and the song itself its its like a process youd be surprised how some songs that sound sad and glum actually have a happy message its all unexpected

I agree. Trying to listen to certain songs today is pretty difficult. And yes the background sound effects make a song hard to interrupt, but even the lyrics itself in certain hip hop or rap songs today I myself really question. Seems like they are making up things to fill in the lyrics despite not making any sense. Do we still listen to these songs that make completely no sense? Not going to deny most are pretty catchy.

Okay your response here really caught my attention because I constantly compare the music from my earlier youth years and found the area of hip pop and rap to make complete sense in lyrics and in most cases you can relate to things heard over a song and today I see the youth of today favors rap and hip pop meanwhile the lyrics make no sense and the youth cannot relate to the majority of things said over songs. But apart from that, Most appear to be catchy but I feel at this rate, the idea of rap music is slowly changing the way people perceive it.

The name of the song is pretense by knuckle puck. It’s a really fast paced song and it makes you want to use all your energy to move and jump, because of the fast vocals and instrumentals it was easy for me to not hear the lyrics and just move. I remember seeing them live and when they played this song the whole crowd went crazy. Later I decided to read the lyrics and I got a whole new message. despite it being very fast paced I found a very deep meaning in the song that I can connect with. Is there any songs that you personally know that can trigger more than one emotion at a time ?

Totally! Lately I’ve been listening to music in an entire different way and it makes me feel enlightened and some what gives me a powerful boost of energy. What types of musical instruments do you like listening to?

As mentioned in this article “performance style” has significantly changed over time. As seen in class in a few photographs that were brought up, musicians in earlier times seemed to be hidden somewhere in the back or behind the scenes. Now we see how artists today are front and center and all eyes are on them.

yes i completely agree.the performance style has definitely switched roles in a sense it as if back then the person didn’t matter/ who’s playing the instrument, just more so how its played, delivered to the audiance.

“…while a few stars and their handlers, grow rich and famous through selling us what we have been led to believe we lack.” The roles are switched from the past when musicians served and were paid to please their employers. Now our roles as listeners during this present time have switched and it seems that we serve to the artist.

@vtsoumpariotis I completely agree with that statement because we do serve to the artist. We take the music they make and live our lives according to it. We don’t define the music, we let it define us because we are always trying to relate to the music and live our lives according to what artists are singing.

What makes a listening experience “rich” for you?
What makes a listening experience “rich” for me personally is being able to hear the melody clearly with little to no background noise. If the background noise is greater than the melody it makes it hard to listen to. I want the complex part of a song to be in the melody so that I can analyze each part much easier. I personally like the way that artist are able to have a simple beat with a complex melody and vice versa. It makes the experience unique every time I listen to songs of the same genre, in fact it even enhances it. What do you guys prefer? Simple background beat or simple melody?

Personally, I like melodies that are complex, yet not overly complex. I think there is a balance between a song being too complicated and too simple. If it’s too intricate, it could be challenging to listen to and one can lose interest. If it’s too simple melodically, it could be boring. Then again, it depends on the style and mood of a specific song. Some songs sound better if instrumentally and melodically sparse e.g. acoustic guitar, if, for example, combined with raw emotion of the vocals and lyrics. Some songs sound better with a full band, orchestra, instrumentation etc. Also, as an avid lyricist myself, richness in music comes from not only the “sound” but also the lyrical quality.

“musical Time travel” is something new to me as someone that comes from a family inspired by musicians the way it is translated and portrayed. From my understanding musical time travel is basically something that started at one point of time and some how is relived or in this case preformed etc. my life basically consist of this type of time travel and the reason i state this is because i adore and live for the oldies and originals/throwbacks. with that being said as someone who’s idol is someone who is not really recognized but is very iconic and historical. i constantly hear her music being manipulated to fit societies gesture of what is considered to be music nowadays. For example the song Strange Fruit(originally sang by the iconic Billie Holiday) Nina Simone spoke (my idol) of an era she grew up in where Black and brown people were still being hang, and their lifeless bodies being called/ considered to be strange fruit.(1965) Kanye West later made a song called blood on the leave.(2013) in this song Kanye stated “strange fruit hanging from the poplar tree” as did billie and nina.

Thank you, and honestly theres pros and cons like i am grateful that some artist still take the time to incorporate legends, and try to keep their legacies alive. but the con behind this is a lot of people hear the lyrics and discard the sense of time traveling, because they don’t have the background or history of where this line and comparison has came from.

I didn’t see this response until after i posted mine and i completely agree. I mentioned West as well and this reading of Music and Time Travel made me think more of how music is reused and how although the lyrics are sampled, the message is sometimes completely different. A piece of music may ignite old memories and feelings but I’ve realized how those memories and emotions would be entirely different if we lived in a different time.

“He is in a constant state of stage fright, he says, because he never knows what part of his life he is going to have to act in next.”

I find this part of the quote particularly interesting. Almost everyone can say that they act different around different people. I know for me when I’m around my friends, I act extremely outgoing and boisterous, and when when I’m at home with my family I’m much more reserved, and respectful not to say anything inappropriate. And when I’m in school I’m even more reserved and much more soft spoken and quiet. The main point is that in life we all play a several “Characters” of ourselves. They’re not necessarily fake its just we naturally and subconsciously disassociate ourselves and act a certain ways around certain people to either fit in or blend in.

Yes! I agree with you! And actually, we have our own position in the different situation. For a family, we are child, for the country, we are citizens. And the different people you talk with have the different attitude. If you use the “friend chat” way chat to your family your family will be confused. We do have different characters in our life. And just like Obama’s twitter shows “Dad, Husband, President, Citizen”

I agree with you. I believe we act this way because of how we was taught. There is always a time and a place to act the way you do.When I am at school I tend to be quiet and shy because I don’t really like to talk. But when you get used to someone after a while you tend to branch open and be the outgoing person you normally are.

I completely agree. i think its just a way of being socially conditioned, because the way i can reply and discard/ act towards my friend might not be culturally excepted in ones house hold. As to others, sometimes their parents are their best friends and you address them as such. The thought of “its a time and place for everything” sums it up.

What makes an listening experience rich for me is having music help me relax when I need to. The melody is slow and calm which helps me calm my breathing and help me not panic when I am about to. Other than that music can also make me happy when I want to be with the fast and upbeat pace.

I would definitely have to relate with you, when I’m done with my day I normally like to relax and listen to music and I usually refer to some nice jazz which just mellows me out and helps me think about my day and somewhat the future.

Music just like has a major can effect who are listening music, for example, if a horror movies without a terrorist background music, it will make the audience feel like that movie is not scary. sometimes, music is not the protagonist on our life, but as a background music it can be affect our mood

What makes music a rich experience for me is when an artist uses his/her talent to relay a powerful message even when I might not be able to relate to it as well as another person can. such as the song “Happiness” by Token which talks about teens who deal with depression due to things in their home life. Now I just because I have not been through it as bad as those being described in the song it doesn’t mean I can’t understand. However I do connect more towards songs that carry a strong message of awareness like in the song “Ill Mind of Hopsin 5” where the artist (Marcus “Hopsin”) talks about issues of drugs, teenage pregnancy, and the true meaning of the term “Real Ni**a” explaining that the true definition is a man who doesn’t have to tell people he is on and that takes care of his responsibilities while not having to go to jail. However personally I tend to love when a song can inspire like in the song “One Man Can Change The World” by Big Sean. This is because for years before the person I am today I had felt that I couldn’t amount to anything even while seeing how broken our world is today but being able to put all that behind me and take care of things that come with becoming an adult but still wanting to help people as a whole. Mainly because I do believe that one man can change the world because we see it throughout history repeatedly. So I hold onto those songs the most because that is what allows me hope that one day I won’t live in the world that was given to me but actually live in the world that i dream of.

This is the response to question number one. Listening to music always leave an expression behind and it can be amazing. Sometimes you can be in a horrible mood and listening to one song can change everything or if you need motivation a song can boost your spirits.

Yes, I agree on how the music changes our feelings based on what we are listening to because everyone has different musics they like or dislike so depending on how and what the people listens to is what make them do

I ask myself the same question. Some people say that in the future, there are not going to be that many instruments because of the development of technology. in the 21’s century all instruments can be simulated with computers so we cant really predict how the future of music will be.

I totally agree with you, the evolution of computerized sounds has blossomed immensely within being the key components of music production. However certain genres will still continue to use instruments like country music today. They haven’t really converted over to creating music like most genres today, so I feel like there’s still going to be actual instruments within songs but it’ll be very limited to music as a whole topic.

I feel that even though music technology has evolved tremendously over the past 30 years there’s still a real need for the human touch behind it. Yes, the way we produce music has changed at an incredible pace. Nowadays the usage of Digital Audio Workstations (I.e Pro Tools, Logic, Cakewall) is mandatory at all levels of musicality, from the guy sitting in his couch making covers to upload online to the big leagues of label recording. But even so there’s always a human composer, arranger, producer or musician behind those works. Machines are just tools, they don’t have will, sure they make most of the work for you but the creative process is made always inside a human mind. So 5-10 years from now may seem like a lot but when you think that the methods of composing (say, music theory behind it) hasn’t changed that much in the last 400 years -it was only until the last century that some dared to change, but it was still a select number of artists- it doesn’t give you much hope that the next decade it’s going to be any different even with the presence of technology.

I feel what makes the listening experience “rich” to me is how it can change my attitude and how it affect my thought process. Even more, it helps me remember things (like to participate in these discussions). like i would listen to couple of songs on the bus before taking a test and it would greatly help. But what really makes it “rich” is how songs can be different from each other but give the same effect and vice-versa.

There is music that can bring you back in time. This article https://sites.psu.edu/siowfa15/2015/10/18/why-does-music-evoke-memories/ reveals a study at the University of California where they found why music brings us to a certain time and place. For me, it actually takes me places and eras i have never been in. For example, when i listen to blues and artists such as B.B King and Buddy Guy , i imagine someplace in New Orleans in the 19th century.

Also, for a rich listening experience from a listener perspective , the listener should take everything into consideration. The melody, the harmonies, the lyrics, and every other detail that makes the piece feel completed.

I agree with your statement regarding how music can take you back to an era we have never been in. Another example of this would be listening to an Elvis Presley song. His music can take you back to a time where rock and roll was beginning to emerge down in Memphis, TN, Does anyone have any thoughts on why music is so timeless?

I would say the it depends on the mood , the music and where im listening it. when i hear guitar and voice it delivers something special , but there is something wonderful about sitting on a rooftop and listening to guitar being played . its the environment that attracts me to a place to listen and each environment with different sounds and music always gives different experiences . in my opinion listening in such environment makes a listening experience rich for me.

I’m so interesting about “Notice that I said three kinds of people, not three different people: they could all be the same person!” Yes, the composer, the performer, and the listener have a very great connect. Such as Beethoven, He is a composer, a performer and a listener at the same time. He made many songs and he is a pianist as well, and the person who will be the first one to listen is himself. So I think this sentence can let me relate to Beethoven.

Music can be “rich” depending on what your personal taste is in my opinion. When listening to music everyone looks for something different that they like within a certain genre or song. So say for example, if you love to listen to a song with a fast tempo and listen to EDM than you more than likely will find that song to be rich but to someone who say likes classical music it wont be. A perfect example of a musical time travel for me was when you played in class Billie Jean and it took me back to when I was a kid sitting in front of the TV listening to the song over and over. Like within the instance of the song playing I could feel like I was in that moment, it took me back to a lifelike other dimension where my mind changed everything around me back to that certain point in time.

Yes, I can agree everybody has different music taste and how they listen to it can be different from how we listen to the song. Thats what makes music so ”rich” too because everybody doesnt hear the same song the same way.

What makes music “rich” to me is hearing the guitar solos during a certain section of the song. It gives me the goosebumps, due to the way the guitarist moves his or her hands up and down the guitar to give it the certain effect. And that there is barely any background music just the guitar doing its thing. Also the way music effects a listeners is how they interpet the song, how it makes them feel. Usually when I am listening to music, the lyrics and the guitarist stick out to me. But also depending on my mood i would listen to certain music, if i was happy, i would listen to poppy music, or if i was in a annoying mood or angry mood i would listen to rap. Just something to get me through what I am thinking and experiencing that day. Because maybe the artist has gone through or wrote about the same thing I am feeling.

A listening experience is very important and for me it makes it “rich” because the lyrics to a song gives me a kind of mental experience of how the artist defines his song. Depending on the song, it gives me an emotional feeling when I’m listening to it because if I am feeling down or hurt, an example, my girlfriend and the song may be about that, it will eventually get to me where I understand the artist and listening to the lyrics gives out a huge mental experience I had compared to the artist. Also when I’m working out or doing some kind of activity, it involves focus because if you don’t focus, you wont be able to finish what you started. This example shows how powerful music could be or also helpful and “rich.”

Everyone’s listening experience is different in some way, what I hear when I listen to a piece is never what someone else hears. The richness of the music someone listens to is based on their past experiences, personality and how they view music entirely. Music is rich to someone when it evokes the feelings you are searching for at that moment in time. For instance, if someone is feeling happy they search for music that is blissful and heightens that feeling. I believe its all about how you are feeling that predicts how you will feel about a piece of music. Some songs remind me of my childhood, when I listen to songs that I grew up listening to I remember how I felt at that very moment. It’s time travel or music travel because those feelings instantly surface.

Being the listener or “auditor” as it states in this article to music is always an experience I look forward to. Music is all around us and taking the time to really dissect the lyrics of a song or the melody of a musical piece being composed is what being an auditor of music is all about. To me that’s what a rich experience is, being able to understand and relate to the music and to the creator of the music or musical piece. I experience musical time travel all the time. Hearing a song come on the radio or television or even in class instantly takes me back to old memories and experiences. Weather its bad memories or good ones, depends on the music of course. As a listener I believe my role is to critic, dissect, and give my personal opinion on the music I’m listening to. For example if a popular artist or even an up and coming artist releases a new song and it appeals to me and I really enjoy it ill ask others have they heard the new song and do they like it as much as I do. This promotes the music and creates an opportunity to discuss it openly with someone else which all part of the experience of listening to music.

Just as the article posts “It’s also possible for the three people in this triangle to exist in different points in time” Before I read this article, I don’t know what is that mean, and after this I know. Some composer made a piece of music, but maybe at that time, no one can fully appreciate his music. So this piece maybe passes to the composer’s descendants. In next time, some performers in the future maybe will find this piece and perform it. So it can be in different time. And some songs will be popular maybe not at that time.
Can someone help me to find some evidence about it? Sorry, I can’t find the evidence. ：（

And I think not every listener is professional, some people listen to music just because if the melody or lyric (Yes I was also) the people don’t know how does the music made, does it have something in common. I think the people who love music not only need to love the music’s melody but also know more about the music. If you really love it, you should know more about it. Just like if you are interested in a girl, you should not just like her, you should know more about her.

I have to admit like music just because of the beat, and tone of the music, but I do try to listen to lyrics, but sometimes it’s hard especially if the music in background is loud for example the black eyes peas at the halftime show for the superbowl.

Very nicely put I must say, I’m almost positively sure that all the music we listen to has a different meaning and most certainly a different mood for every song, and we should know more about what we are listening to.

I personally never thought of art as some sort of time traveling vehicle. I only contemplated the possibility of transcending our mortal bodies by writing our names in history trough music but the idea of parallel times on a musical piece never crossed my mind. It is indeed maybe the closest thing to the real deal (time machine, I mean) but I’m curious to know…Did anybody think about this idea before? And if somebody did, how was the process to arrive at such conclusion?

When speaking of musical time travel I want to mention that it can make you remember feelings you once felt. I know musical time travel can make you remember old memories but I want to point out that you will feel the same feelings you felt during that memory. For example there was a song I listened to back in 2014 while hanging out with friends and during that time I was very happy because school was ending, it was nice out and more. Now when I listen to that song I don’t just say “I remember listening to this while hanging with the guys” but I feel the same happiness I did for a brief period of time. This is the same as when people listen to sad or emotional music while thinking about the memories they shared with someone who isn’t in their life anymore. Its the reason people say things like “Drake put me in my feelings” or “Drake got me in my bag”. The relationship between music, memories and feelings are further explained here https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/mental-mishaps/201105/music-evoked-nostalgia

I believe that my role as a listener is to dissect the music that I listen to. I’m supposed to fully understand what the artist is trying to say through their lyrics and even through the instruments they use.

Is very interesting what you say, however, I think that listener don’t have a particular role but listen to it, and interpret or enjoy it the way they want, and that may vary from the way the artists wants it to be understood, and that’s the beauty of music or even any kind of art. That we all have a different perception of it but we all have feelings towards it

Although it is good to focus on listening to what an artist is trying to say in his or her piece of music, I’m convinced that artist prefer listeners to take the message and understand it through their own perspective, in other words, the music means whatever it means to the specific listener.

The more I think about music as a form of timeless communication the more fascinating I find it. As a musician myself, I cannot deny how appealing the concept of delivering messages across ages is. Just imagine how your music could be interpreted in two hundred years, would it represent its time? Would it be considered avant-garde or maybe some sort of nostalgic reminiscence of the past? How would it be delivered to the listener? Possibilities are endless.
That last question takes me to the other face of the coin, the listener. It is a fact that popular art is tailored for its epoch, for the actual demands of the current public and popular music is no exception to that rule. We have the kind of current artists that we have because that is our demand to the music world; we buy their music, we share it, we ask for live performances, we support them. There’s a direct relationship between what we consume and what is out there in the market to be listened to, of course there’s also room for experimentation, for independent artists to express themselves, but in the end we the audience decide if such independent act is going to have any impact or if it’s just going to fall to the abyss of the forgotten.

What makes a listening experience “rich” for you? When listening to a song, either the meaningful lyrics or beats performed in a perfect composition.
What instances of musical “time travel” have you experienced? So far, my best experience with “time travel” in music is appreciating bands/artist such as Journey, Kansas, and Marvin Gaye.
How do you think of your role or responsibility as a listener, or how has your sense of this role changed? While attending the class I began to appreciate more of music and the performers.

The “Multiple simultaneous orbits” makes so sense on how “there are three kinds of people in order to exist: a creator, an executor, and an an auditor”. All three needed to be there to have a music. And all three goes hand in hand, If one is missing then the another one cannot work due to nonexistent. Just how it is stated “a songwriter, a singer, and an audience” goes together there should be someone who makes a music, someone who sings a song or plays an instrument and someone who listens to its music.

The listening experience can come in vary. My musical listening experience is more on the rhythm and the melody rather then the lyrics (depends) . My brain would forget that there are lyrics in the music. As listen to the background I start follow the beat like I’m playing the drums. The background music can help me have a better understanding of what the artist is trying to tell me. Though, what makes it “rich” is the way both melody and the rhythm can clash together- making what is call music.

It is true that music is a way to travel through time. We can learn so much of a time period just by knowing what was “in” at that moment, what kind of music was people listening too. Music is an open window that let us see so much things not only of the person who composed the piece or the one who’s performing it but as I say also the listener.

I find myself anxious with chills when listening to a piece of music, starting from the beginning with the introduction and mood of the song being in-tuned with my actual mood. Along with listening to words that relate to my current situation or struggle i’m going through at that moment of time in my life. That’s what makes music rich/intriguing for myself.

Not until now have I, experience any type of time travel to where I thought a period of time was interested to me. As of late I have being listening to psychedelic rock bands of the 1960’s and 1970’s have really caught my attention, too bad those of type of bands are such as;pink floyd, led zepplin, cream and the doors are not around anymore. The rich experience of listening to those bands, is that they played their own instruments at the same time they sang their lyrics, now days most musicians sing and have others create the sounds for them. Jimmy Hendrix stands out for me because they’re not a lot of guitarists who are lefty, and sound awesome.

What makes a listening experience “rich” for me is when I’m listening to a particular music it sort of has to match the mood I am in. If I were to come home one day very upset I would listen to a specific song that would enlighten me and make me feel that “rich” in me. Like I have said before their are different types of songs for different types of moods and when you are listening to that specific music based on your mood, you sure will then feel the “rich” listening experience.

Time travel occurs to a lot of people because it’s human nature and especially me. There’s a time in my life that anytime I hear this specific song it brings my thought process back years. The song I’m talking about is micheal Jackson thriller. Anytime I hear thriller it brings me back to the day he passed when it was being played on the radio constantly and repetitively

Artist like Lady Gaga (Born this way), Beyonce (Run the world), Macklemore (Same Love) etc. offer their audiences connection and encouragement through their use of upbeat tempos and creative visuals, all while discussing controversial topics that affect many people. When considering the artist and songs above, Lady Gaga and Macklemore shed light on Equal Rights and the obstacles faced by L.G.B.T communities. “Run the World” motivates women and reveals the shift in early gender stereotypes by asking the question “Who runs the world?” Background singers respond “Girls” and the question and answer are repeated throughout the piece. If songs like these were played 50+ years ago, society (listeners), wouldn’t respond by making these songs #1 on the charts. Homosexuality was kept secret and behaviors reflecting the orientation would be viewed as a mental illness. Women fought and continue to fight against the role implemented on us by society. To spread the message that women are in demand and powerful, would go against society’s older perspective. What we feel and the music being produce is a reflection of time and cultural beliefs. That is only one way time and music co-exists. Artist like Drake, Lil’ Wayne, and Kanye West use lyrics from older songs and artist and incorporate them into their current music. “I Got A Woman” (1954), by Ray Charles was used in Kanye’s “Gold Digger” (2005). “At Your Best” by Aaliyah (1994), adopted from The Isley Brothers 1976 song “You are love”, was sampled a third time by Drake in his 2005 track “Unforgettable” ft. Young Jeezy. Lyrics and beats are reused over time, allowing for the message to the change and the experience for the listeners to also differ. We are either taken back in time, or given an idea of what the future holds. This may contribute to the richness of a listening experience. If the music does not consider the time, socioeconomic attributes, and experience, we may find it hard to enjoy a piece. The instruments and sound quality may not be as appealing to the ear, if the music is in the wrong time. Small’s term “MusicKing” supports the theory that we all (composer, performer, listener) contribute to the success or failure of music and this can be seen as true when we realize how time and every detail of a piece affects the experience of a listener.

If the dead came alive and heard the music of today, what do you think they’d say or feel?
Do you think their experience would be good or bad (would they be proud of our progress (integration, equal rights etc.) or frown at the messages being spread in music (drugs, sex, violence)? How would the time they lived in change their feelings on what we listen to today?